REVIEW: THE SCORPION RULES by Erin Bow

THE SCORPION RULES

Summary:The world is at peace, said the Utterances. And really, if the odd princess has a hard day, is that too much to ask?

Greta
is a duchess and crown princess—and a hostage to peace. This is how the
game is played: if you want to rule, you must give one of your children
as a hostage. Go to war and your hostage dies.

Greta will be
free if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday. Until then she
lives in the Precepture school with the daughters and sons of the
world’s leaders. Like them, she is taught to obey the machines that
control their lives. Like them, she is prepared to die with dignity, if
she must. But everything changes when a new hostage arrives. Elián is a
boy who refuses to play by the rules, a boy who defies everything Greta
has ever been taught. And he opens Greta’s eyes to the brutality of the
system they live under—and to her own power.

As Greta and Elián
watch their nations tip closer to war, Greta becomes a target in a new
kind of game. A game that will end up killing them both—unless she can
find a way to break all the rules.

This one started off really strong. The first 35% of the book had me hooked: I wanted to see what would happen to Greta and the rest of the Children of Peace with war on the brink. But it sort of went downhill from there. Once we learned that Greta would become an AI, it was pretty obvious that everything in this book was leading to that moment and nothing else that happened really mattered.I understand that we need to know Greta's character so that the next book will make sense (I'm assuming there is a next book) but this one felt so much like the lead up to something that never actually happened. I think it could have been cut down and pushed together with whatever will happen in the next book rather than being it's own book. I think there was too much time spent on things that could have been explained and done in a shorter period of time.I thought the AI was unique and interesting in this one as opposed to some other books that feature AI that I have recently read. I really liked that the AI was half human and created from humans because it made for a much more interesting read. However, I can see the "humanity" side of the AI being played to and I don't know how much I really want that. I think it is interesting to see humans being ruthless when they have the opportunity to be.It wasn't as though this one was a bad book, it just wasn't a great book. It felt too much like a first book in a series rather than a story with it's own plot arc because it was obviously setting up so much more in the future rather than giving us stuff in the present. I thought the Children of Peace would have had a much bigger role in this rather than just being there to show that Greta was the leader and ruler of them -- and that she was capable of being the new AI.But it is still an interesting read and I did like that Greta fell in love with a girl, although I thought maybe she was asexual at the beginning, but being maybe bisexual was chill too.

3 comments:

I felt the same way about this one. The first half was starting out so good and then it kind of died. Plus I thought the romance was a little weird. She kept going from one person to another and all I could think was "omg please just pick one". Plus the summary of the book made it seem like Elian would be a much bigger deal than he was. The one good thing about this book was Talis. LOVED him.

Hmm. Interesting concept for sure but taking your review into consideration, I think I'll pass on this one, mostly because this: "It felt too much like a first book in a series rather than a story with it's own plot arc because it was obviously setting up so much more in the future rather than giving us stuff in the present."That right there turns me off of a book faster than a cat in heat looking for her next hook up.Anyway, sorry you were disappointed by this one; I hope the next book gives you serious heart eyes!

About Jamie

Jamie is a 20-something blogger from Ontario, Canada who loves to read, binge watch TV shows, and play video games in her spare time. She can be found in the wilds of Windsor-Essex County, but mostly stays in her apartment curled up with a cup of tea and a good book. Need a physical mailing address?

About Jamie

Jamie is a 20-something blogger from Ontario, Canada who loves to read, binge watch TV shows, and play video games in her spare time. She can be found in the wilds of Windsor-Essex County, but mostly stays in her apartment curled up with a cup of tea and a good book. Need a physical mailing address?